Mission impossible? Get rid of 10 things every day for a year

One might think a toy dog made of real animal hair would fit into Vivienne Palmer's quest to get rid of 10 items a day, but her
husband disagrees.
(Mark Leffingwell/Daily Camera)

Want to purge your house?

Here are some tips from Vivienne Palmer to help:

Take a picture of the things that are difficult to let go of and write about why they are meaningful for you.

"You don't want to feel like you're throwing away the memory, and that's why we hang on to some things," Palmer says.

Get real about clothes that are outdated or don't fit you anymore.

Get outside help if you get stuck.

When selling on eBay, make sure you research each item to know what it has sold for. Determine your monetary threshold: What amount of money it must sell for to be worth your time (Palmer's number is $10). If an item hasn't sold for that in the past, donate it, instead of wasting your time.

Create a routine for going through your items, whether it's the first of every month, every Sunday morning or (in Palmer's case) every day after the kids leave for school.

See your house as a river with many bends in it, and stuff piles up at each bend. Don't feel like you have to tackle the whole river all at once. Just pick one bend at a time.

If you feel overwhelmed, tell yourself this: I will walk into this room (or look in this drawer) and find 10 things that don't belong here.

Be brave. "It's sometimes daunting wading into those places. They're places you close off for a reason. You have to get used to confronting things on a daily basis until becomes a habit," Palmer says.

Have fun. Palmer's blog is lighthearted and padded with funny stories about her life in Boulder. Such as finding a long dreadlock on Mount Sanitas (aptly titled "Ew! Ew! Ew!"). Which incidentally would be great material to make another real-hair toy dog.

(Note: This story was changed Feb. 25 to reinstate some missing text.)

In a way, the fire that turned her house and all her possessions into ashes was a blessing. It taught Vivienne Palmer about freedom. And she wants to be free again.

Short of setting her house on fire, that is.

She looks around her Boulder home and wonders how it got so full in the 10 years since a house fire in the middle of the day on Nov. 20, 2003.

"I thought it would be horrible -- but I really felt euphoric," Palmer says, thinking back. "After getting over the shock, which happened pretty fast, I was at this point where I would think about a certain thing I had and think, 'It's gone,' and let go of it. It felt amazingly freeing to do that. It's not a bad thing to let go of things."

Now, she has committed to let go of 10 things every day for a year.

She is calling it Project 3650, for the number of objects she aims to purge from her house by December.

At least 10 things. Every day.

A friend warned her: Don't set yourself up for failure; that's a lot of stuff.

But with two young boys, Palmer says it might not be enough.

"It is so easy. This house is full of stuff. I've already done almost 2,000 items, and I'm going to keep it going for a whole year. It will probably end up being 10,000 things when it's all said and done," she says. "You just get on a roll."

On Feb. 7, it's a Davey Crocket "un-coon" skin cap for kids. Bags of plastic bags. Four random cloth napkins, six bandanas, two tablecloths. Not one but two "nightmare-inducing," cymbal-clapping toy monkeys. And a toy dog -- made of real animal fur. OK, the husband wants to keep that one. He thinks it's cool. Palmer thinks it's disgusting. It's tabled, in the purging purgatory -- for now.

To keep herself accountable, Palmer posts them on her Process of Elimination blog, processofeliminationblog.com. She gives away many things for free. Others, such as designer handbags, she sells on eBay or Craigslist -- made easier by her husband's full-time job running an eBay business.

That's part of what led to the clutter, Palmer admits.

The ("very large") warehouse where he kept his stock, mostly vintage clothing, was sold, so guess where the inventory had to go?

"One day in December, I said, 'This is driving me nuts. I need to make a change. There's stuff everywhere,' " Palmer says. "Whereas I can't do anything about his stuff -- it's a good business -- I can do something about my own stuff."

Her husband's only resistance was worrying whether she was going to embarrass him on her blog. OK, and sometimes he and the children dig through the go-pile and dispute, Palmer says. But they're getting used to it.

"I honestly get a little endorphin high, a rush, like a shopper's high from getting rid of stuff," she says. "And that has replaced my desire for that actual shopper's high."

She says she has no desire to buy anything anymore because she asks herself, "Is this $10 thing something I'm just going to give away in a year? And do I want to give away 10 bucks?"

To immortalize things with stories or sentimental value, such as her grandfather's shirt, she takes a picture and posts it online with the story.

"I still have the picture. It's not gone forever. That makes it easier to get rid of stuff," Palmer says.

The hardest work is keeping her project eco-friendly and finding homes for everything possible. Because once she makes a pile, she has to wait for people to pick things up or take special trips to donate it to the First Presbyterian Church Deacon's Closet. She's waiting for several designer handbags to sell on eBay, but until then, they remain in the pile.

Beyond peace of mind and room to breathe, there's another motivator: Palmer hopes to raise enough money to fund a family vacation to Southeast Asia. So far, she's made $500. If she commits to more eBay selling, she thinks it's realistic to raise $15,000.

"Everything is swirling around: There's the writing, the trip, me wanting to get rid of stuff, me wanting to make money, me wanting to create a new good habit," Palmer says. "It's a really giant project that encompasses all of these areas in my life, and that's why I call it the process of elimination. It's a huge process, but it's energizing. And I can't think of anything I'd rather do more."To fully experience the interactive photo below, created by Aimee Heckel, click here or on the rainbow-colored circle in the bottom left-hand corner of the image.

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